Nursing attention process application by students, a study from the lived experience

Abstract

The nursing attention process is a method which promotes the reflexive, individualized and results-oriented assistance. Its application in educational contexts is linked to the advancement of the professional development, in particular, if this process is accompanied by discipline-related theories and teaching guides. Nevertheless, in Costa Rica, it is not known with certainty, how this process is applied because there aren’t enough studies on the topic. With the aim of providing information to this reference frame, an investigation was conducted with the following characteristics.

Objectives: To determine the sense given by University of Costa Rica students to the application of this nursing method, and also to distinguish the forms in which these students particularly applied it.

Method: A qualitative and phenomenological study was used to analyze documents and interviews on a sample of students enrolled into the 5 th year of the Nursing Baccalaureate Program en 2014.

Results: Regarding narrative, the sense of the phenomenon was established on the base of three categories: knowledge, experiences, and teachings. In relation to the documents, variations in the use of the nursing process were found in all phases, and conceptual-related, teaching- related, and working-related limitations were also identified.

Conclusions: As a result of this study, it was possible to understand the meaning of the lived experiences related to the application of this nursing process including the difficulties to enact it. Therefore, it is considered necessary to continue the efforts on the exploration and investi- gation of this phenomenon in Costa Rica.